Despite the fact that I don't think the entire roster of season 2 of NXT compares to season 1's on the whole, I think that this season of the rookie showcase might just be more intriguing than the first one. Yeah, Eli Cottonwood and Titus O'Neil look like slugs without the potential that I begrudgingly think David Otunga might have, Lucky Cannon is like Heath Slater only less ginger, and there's no one, and I mean no one who looks like a current WWE wrestler in blackface like Darren Young did. However, the rooks that I do like (Husky Harris, Michael McGillicutty, Percy Watson, Alex Riley and Kaval), I like a whole lot, and they seem to be building this show up as more than just a joke/build for a huge brand-encompassing angle like they did with the season 1 rooks. With this level of interest, there are a lot of intriguing potential matches. One of them took place last week with Kaval falling on his sword and doing the job for Riley in one of the best matches I've seen this year. Here are six others that could happen and that I'd love to see:1. Kaval vs. Husky Harris
Kaval's small stature seems to be a talking point for this season, and honestly, you'd have to be a huge indie wrestling mark not to notice it. For all his talent, Kaval's a pretty small guy, unprecedentedly small for a guy who didn't do fancy flips and has an offense like his. I think it's awesome though, mainly because Kaval's an outstanding wrestler and has a hilariously contrasting deep-bass Barry White voice inside that small a body. That being said, there's a lot of opportunity for jarring contrast this season, and they're already taking advantage of it characterwise with Kaval's mentors, Team Lay-Cool. In the ring, the obvious choice for that kind of contrast would be against the 7+ foot Eli Cottonwood, but he kinda sucks, so I choose the pleasantly plump Husky Harris. The spawn of Mike Rotunda actually seems like he can work and keep up with the frenetic Kaval. I think this would be a terrific match, and honestly, I just want to see Harris' belly jiggle after the former Low Ki nails him with a stiff kick to the gut. That would be a freaking awesome visual if I do say so myself.
2. Michael McGillicutty vs. Wade Barrett
McGillicutty has been Tweeting about how whack he thinks the Season 1 guys' actions are, and since the WWE Twitter policy is to keep it kayfabe when talking about the company, there might be some reason for those tweets. Either way, we've seen guys appear on NXT that aren't necessarily involved in it in the current season, and I can definitely see McGillicutty nabbing a #1 ranking in the first Pro's Poll. When that happens, Barrett coming back to his old stomping grounds, bringing up all the poop talk and wanting a piece of the new number one would be a very logical and markworthy storyline plot. Given how good both guys are, this should be one pretty nice match should it happen.
3. Alex Riley vs. The Miz
The mantra of Season 2 is that the Pros are going to go about this the "right way" rather than the Season 1 Pros who drove their rookies to the brink. Who's the only one to come back from Season 1? The Miz. Who's the one Pro who was the most antagonistic towards his erstwhile Rookie? The Miz. Yeah. Right now, Miz and Riley have a good rapport, but they're also two huge in-storyline egomaniacs. I can see those clashing and I can see The Miz going against the Season 2 credo and riding Riley at the first bump in the road. There is huge storyline potential here, and if tapped into, the above match would have some nice heat (Especially if a certain American Dragon made his grand return to the WWE by screwing Miz out of said match...)
4. Kaval vs. Michael McGillicutty
Flat out, these are the two best prospects in the contest this season in my not so humble point of view. I want to see them face off against each other. Each guy represents something different. Kaval represents the new school of excellent worker, the guy who lets his stiff strikes, in this case, kicks, do the talking for him. Strike based, bumps big, takes to the air and to the ropes in a springboard capacity more than usual. McGillicutty is a throwback to the old-school WWF wrestler. He talks like one, works like one. Grind out strikes, restholds, neckbreakers, great pacing like his father and many of his father's contemporaries. A great clash of styles that I think could produce an even better match than the one that Kaval had with Riley.
5. Zack Ryder vs. Husky Harris
Ryder has already been shown to have "let his guard down" and reached out to his rookie, Titus O'Neil. Again, there's great potential for growth with that relationship, the mentoring showing that Ryder isn't just a guido-wannabe from Long Island (Although I love that character, it wouldn't hurt for him to add some new dimensions IN ADDITION to that character). Harris' mentor, Cody Rhodes, has already begun his metamorphosis into a dick heel who really doesn't care for anything in the competition but furthering his own legacy (PUN INTENDED PEOPLE) by molding Harris, whose father used to tag with Rhodes' erstwhile tag partner's father interestingly enough, into a bona fide WWE superstar. There's a ton of potential for storytelling here. Rhodes bullies Harris into acting like a dick towards the Rookies he feels suck. O'Neil is one of them. Ryder gets his bro's back. They have an awesome match. It's all there, people.
6. Eli Cottonwood vs. The Great Khali
Just for the lulz.
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